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I went to my favorite shoe store yesterday, Performance Running Outfitters, and got my running shoes checked out. I wanted to see for sure if my running shoes might indeed be contributing to my recent knee issues. The answer from the gal who checked them out – “yeah, they’re ready to be replaced”. So, I took the plunge!

I tried on a pair of Asics (my current shoe), Brooks, and Sauconys. I ended up going with the Brooks. They just felt great and I could really tell the difference in cushion between the new shoe and my old ones. I’m hopeful that this help with the wear and tear on knees.

Those of you who have visited the blog here know that I speak occasionally of my practice of martial arts and, more specifically, the Japanese weapons art of kobudo.

I learned a short time ago that my kobudo instructor, Sensei Paul Harris, died in his sleep last night suddenly and unexpectedly.

He was a teacher, a mentor and a friend to a countless number of people. Few people who practice martial arts in the state of Wisconsin hadn’t at least heard of him. He had grown close to myself and many others at our karate school and his loss will be incalculable. His commanding presence and respect for all those who shared his love will not soon be replaced. I’m privileged to have had the opportunity to practice with him.

The kobudo program was one of his babies and his loss makes the future of the program as well as my personal attempt at achieving black belt later this year very much uncertain. But that’s the least of our concerns right now.

Please keep the family in your thoughts as they navigate a very difficult step of the journey.

I don’t know about you but this weekend couldn’t have come fast enough this week. This week seemed to drag on forever but Friday’s finally here and I couldn’t be more excited because my wife and I are going on date night tonight for the first time in about three months (kids put a serious dent in your social calendar). It’s just dinner and then meeting up with some friends afterwards but it’ll be great to just get some “us” time.

Good news first! My knee which was giving me trouble the last couple of days feels fine today. No issues, discomfort or tightness whatsoever. My guard is still up though and I don’t want to rush back into anything so I’m thinking a short easy jog or a little time on the bike to see how it feels might be in order. Tracey recommending seeing a doctor to get it checked out and given her history with knee problems it might not be a bad idea. Either way, it’ll be an easy weekend for the joints as I try to nurse things back to health. I’d say that this would be a good time to focus on the swim portion of triathlon training but the pool at the gym is out of commission for the next two weeks. Bad break!

As I was searching through my normal roll call of fitness related sites, I came across the following nugget courtesy of Her Sports.

Her Sports is a bi-monthly magazine that targets women who are big into sports, fitness, health and nutrition and they’re looking for individuals to contribute to their magazine.

I’ve come across a number of talented female writers over the last several months and thought that maybe one or more of you might be interested in turning it into a potentially paying gig. They advertise rates of $150-$450 per article.

My second attempt at the 5 mile run was a complete success this afternoon with one small caveat. Knee problems have officially returned. And not in the knee that gave me issues before. The other one.

Let’s start with the good news first. My run today I would consider wildly successful. I think the main reason was because I focused on something that I really haven’t before – controlling my breathing. My typical pattern in the past was to start breathing properly – in through the nose and out through the mouth – for about the first five minutes and then it sort of becomes a free for all. When it reaches that point, I almost start breathing just to survive the run. I didn’t realize what a huge difference it makes until I tried to control my breathing throughout the run.

I had every intention of making it 5 miles during my noontime run yesterday. It turns out that I only made in 3.5. I just didn’t have it in me to make it the full 5 yesterday. I think there are a few different contributing factors.

First could be all the stairs and the lower body workout from Monday. My legs didn’t feel entirely that bad so I don’t know if that was the big reason. Second was the lingering cold. I felt much better yesterday overall but I still had some stuffiness up in the head. In particular, my nose was blocked and that prevented me from breathing normally so I was huffing and puffing much earlier in the run than I had anticipated.

Monday’s workout with my personal trainer was marked by our usual weekly rite of passage – weigh-in. The week didn’t start off on the best note as some of my food cravings got the best of me but things seemed to recover nicely by the end of the weekend. Part of that was a lack of appetite due to sickness but I guess we’ll take whatever we can get, right?

My weight yesterday came in at 197.8. That’s down another 0.8 pounds from last week. Steady progress is a wonderful thing! I think my goal of getting back down to my “fighting weight” of 190 is well within reach. The body fat measurement came in at 19.0% again which is unchanged from last week. It feels great to see the numbers continue to move in the right direction!

When I ran into my trainer yesterday, she said that yesterday’s workout was going to focus on agility. If you ever work with a personal trainer and he/she says they want to do an “agility” workout with you, you might want to think about turning around and heading in the other direction. For me, an “agility” workout meant doing stairs. Lots of them.